The CHFL board, along with CHNL president Natalie Clark, decided before the opening round of the year that five rounds would constitute a season, which has already been achieved, with each footy side having played at least nine games and each netball side at least eight.

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They also decided on, with a finals series on the horizon and lockdown still in place in Victoria, plans incase they are forced to abandon finals games.

If week one of the finals is lost due to COVID-19, then the top eight will be reduced to a top six.

If the second week of finals is abandoned, that top six becomes a top four.

If the third week of the finals is lost the top two sides remain and play-off in a grand final.

If the grand final can not go ahead, the leagues will look at a range of options in regards to what they do next.

This plan would be implemented across all age groups.

CHFL manager Diane Ryan told The Courier the league has minimal wiggle room in regards to changing the grand final date.

"If there's no crowd restrictions during the finals series, really the only option for us is to play on Mars Stadium," she said.

"That's why we've got no room to move date wise with the finals fixture. Otherwise you'd be playing on the same weekend as other leagues."

She added that cricket clubs get first dibs on grounds with wickets after September 30, due to state government regulations.

That doesn't mean footy can't be played in October, but the league would need to work around cricket and its fixture and use of grounds.

As it stands, Central Highlands' grand final day is scheduled for September 11 at Mars Stadium.

The Ballarat Football Netball League has its big day locked-in at Mars on September 18.

AFL grand final day is scheduled for September 25, a day the leagues want to avoid clashing with as much as possible.

School holidays is another period the leagues want to avoid, making it nearly impossible to change the current date of grand final day.

These decisions come after some calls earlier in the year to try and get a regular season played.

Two rounds were missed prior to the Queen's Birthday holiday, the leagues providing the option to move one of them to that long weekend, which did not eventuate owing to restrictions being in place.

Since those two rounds were lost, the CHFL adapted a "percentage of games won ladder" for all age groups, replacing the traditional points system.

It means that as long as the state remains in lockdown, the league can continue to abandon rounds, as it did in round 13.

The CHNL has not changed its ladder, sticking with the points system.

It will continue to award four points to teams with the bye in abandoned rounds, but won't give those sides any percentage.

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